Composition for treating leather goods and method of applying same



Patented Oct. 1, 1935 PATENT OFFICE COMPOSITION FOR GOODS AND SAME TREATING LEATHER METHOD OF APPLYING Albert Carl Loges, Madera, Calif.

No Drawing. Application November '7, 1932, Serial No. 641,613

6 Claims.

This invention is concerned with the cleaning of suede or chamois leather goods and is more particularly concerned with restoring said goods to their original finish after the same have been .5 subjected to-a Wet or dry cleaning process.

When suede or chamois leather coats, leather jackets and other soft leather goods are cleaned in the same manner as garments made of fabric their appearance after such cleaning is quite dissimilar to that of new leather goods. The leather instead of being of uniform color has areas of dark and light color and often has a streaky appearance. The cleaning removes the dressing from the leather, leaving it dry. Instead of being uniformly supple, and soft, the leather after cleaning is stiff and hard in places. Attempts have been made to correct the poor results obtained by submitting leather garments to a cleaning process but with little success.

It is an object of this invention to devise a process by which leather goods that have been cleaned may be treated so as to restore them to a uniform color and to restore back to the goods the dressing that has been taken out during the cleaning of same.

It is another object of this invention to devise a composition which when applied to cleaned leather goods will restore their original color and. suppleness. 1

The further objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description.

According to my invention I spray the cleaned leather goods with a composition comprising a refined oil and a suitable low boiling point solvent. The composition is prepared by mixing the ingredients, so that the oil becomes completely dissolved in the solvent. The cleaned leather coat or other leather article is first thoroughly dried, brushed and then lightly sprayed with the prepared mixture. In practice I have found that guns such as are used for paint spraying are quite suitable for applying the mixture to the leather garments although it will be readily understood that other spraying devices may be used.

The composition when sprayed upon the leather renders the same damp. The composition soaks into the leather and upon being placed in a current of air the coat drys, but leaving the leather supple and of uniform color so that it is difiicult to tell a garment treated by my process from a new one. The goods may be pressed and given a final light brushing.

As a specific example of the product of my invention, I have taken by volume 25 parts of refined white mineral oil and admixed it with '75 parts of commercial acetone (CHsCOCI-Is). As a further example of my composition, I have sprayed leather garments with a composition pre- M pared as follows:

9% acetone (CHsCOCHa) by volume, 6% 5 chloroform (CI-I013) by volume and mineral oil by volume, are thoroughly mixed together and then diluted three parts to one with a cleaners naphtha, to which may be added a trace of oil color. 10

The latter composition has proved satisfactory for the majority of colored leather garments of a semi-soft nature. However, with white leather goods and goods of more soft leather, I prefer to use the acetone-mineral oil mixture.

It should be borne in mind that the rate of evaporation of the solvent as well as the proportion of solvent used are important in carrying out my process. If too large a percentage of mineral oil is used the viscosity of the composition will not below enough to permit penetration of the oil into the leather or into the surface hairs, giving the leather a greasy and unnatural appearance.

If, on the other hand, too large a percentage of solvent is used, the oil will be largely carried 5 oif in the evaporation.

Again, if a solvent having a slow evaporation rate is used, the smell of the solvent will remain in the goods for a considerable period, and the goods will not dry quickly.

While not wishing to limit myself to the exact proportions of oil and solvent mentioned in the examples given, I will say that the mixture should contain approximately 30% by volume of mineral oil.

I can use other suitable organic solvents instead of acetone or chloroform such for example, ethylene dichloride (CHzClCI-IzCl) or carbon tetrachloride (C014) or a mixture of ethylene dichloride and carbon tetrachloride. Instead of white mineral oil, I may use other oils of approximately the same viscosity which are misvible with the organic solvents named, for instance, straw oil or Wash oil. By the term wash oil is meant an oil used for absorbing, extracting or scrubbing light hydrocarbons from mixtures containing them. In some cases I may even use a refined oil admixed with water, the oil being rendered miscible with the water by use of a suitable emulsifying agent.

Throughout the above specification, by the term mineral oil, I mean a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum, and having a specific gravity of about 0.8 to 0.9 at 25 C. Mineral oil is some times known as liquid par- 55 affin or liquid petrolatum and may be defined as a colorless transparent oil liquid, odorless and tasteless when cold and possessing only a faint petroleum odor when heated.

While my composition is primarily intended for the treatment of soft leather of unglazed type such as suede or chamois, it should be understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the treat ment of such leather but may apply my composition to other soft leathers within the scope o the following claims.

I claim as myinvention:--

' '1. A composition for treating finished leather goods comprising by volume 9% acetone, 6% chloroform, 85% liquid petrolatum, the whole admixed with three volumes of cleaners naphtha.

2. Theprocess of treating finished suede and chamois leather comprising subjecting said leather to a dry cleaning process, drying said leather, spraying said leather with a composition consisting of substantially 30% by volume liquid petrolatum of specific gravity range .8 to .9 and substantially 70% of low-boiling point solvent of the group consisting of acetone, chloroform,

chamois leather comprising subjecting said leather to a dry cleaning process, drying said leather, spraying said leather with a composition consisting of substantially 30% by volume mineral oil of the class consisting of liquid petrolatum, straw oil and wash oil, and substantially 70% of low-boiling point solvents of the group consisting of acetone, chloroform, naphtha, carbon tetrachloride and ethylene dichloride.

4. The process of treating finished suede and chamois leather comprising subjecting said leather to a dry cleaning process, drying said leather, thereafter spraying said 7 leather with a composition consisting of 4 parts acetone, 3 parts chloroform, 42 parts liquid petrolatum and 150 parts cleaners naphtha. V

5. In the process of treating dry-cleaned suede and chamois leather the steps of spraying the dry leather with a small amount of a treating solution comprising between substantially and %non-volatile' refined mineral oil having specific gravity between 0.8 and 0.9 and between substantially 75% and volatile solvent of the group consisting of acetone, chloroform, naphtha, carbon tetrachloride and ethylene dichloride, the said amount of the treating solution being just sufficient to render the leather damp; and then drying the sprayed leather by evaporating the volatile solvent. i

6. A composition for treating dry-cleaned suede and chamois leather consisting substantially of between 25% and 30% liquid petrolatum and between and 70% volatile solvent of the group consisting of acetone, chloroform, naphtha, carbon tetrachloride and ethylene dichloride.

ALBERT CARL LOGES. 

